# Members of the Australian Senate, 1956–1959

   Senate composition at 1 July 1956
   Government (30) - (1 seat minority)
    Liberal (24)
    Country Party (6)
   Opposition (28)
    Labor (28)
   Crossbench (2)
    ALP (Anti-Communist)/DLP (2)   Changes in composition
   * 1 2 At the November 1958 election Labor senator James Ormonde was elected to a full term seat, from 1 July 1959 to 30 June 1965 and Country Party candidate Colin McKellar was elected to fill the casual vacancy ending on 30 June 1962, giving the government a majority in the Senate.
   * ↑ At the November 1958 election Country Party Senator Tom Drake-Brockman was elected to a full term from 1 July 1959 to 30 June 1965 and Liberal candidate George Branson was elected to fill the balance of the casual vacancy ending on 30 June 1959.
   * ↑ Condon Byrne split from the Labor Party in 1957, joining the Queensland Labor Party.
   * ↑ The Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) changed its name to the Democratic Labour Party in 1957.
This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1956 to 1959. Half of its members were elected at the 9 May 1953 election and had terms starting on 1 July 1953 and finishing on 30 June 1959; the other half were elected at the 10 December 1955 election and had terms starting on 1 July 1956 and finishing on 30 June 1962. The process for filling casual vacancies was complex. While senators were elected for a six-year term, people appointed to a casual vacancy only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.
| Senator | Party | State | Term ending | Years in office |
| Stan Amour | Labor | New South Wales | 1959 | 1938–1965 |
| Ken Anderson | Liberal | New South Wales | 1959 | 1953–1975 |
| John Armstrong | Labor | New South Wales | 1962 | 1938–1962 |
| James Arnold | Labor | New South Wales | 1959 | 1941–1965 |
| Bill Ashley | Labor | New South Wales | 1962 | 1938–1958 |
| Bill Aylett | Labor | Tasmania | 1959 | 1938–1965 |
| Archie Benn | Labor | Queensland | 1962 | 1950–1968 |
| George Branson | Liberal | Western Australia | 1959 | 1958–1971 |
| Gordon Brown | Labor | Queensland | 1959 | 1932–1965 |
| Nancy Buttfield | Liberal | South Australia | 1962 | 1955–1965, 1968–1974 |
| Condon Byrne | Labor/Queensland Labor | Queensland | 1959 | 1951–1959, 1968–1974 |
| Don Cameron | Labor | Victoria | 1962 | 1938–1962 |
| George Cole | Labor (A-C)/Democratic Labor | Tasmania | 1959 | 1950–1965 |
| Joe Cooke | Labor | Western Australia | 1959 | 1947–1951, 1952–1965 |
| Walter Cooper | Country | Queensland | 1962 | 1928–1932, 1935–1968 |
| Ben Courtice | Labor | Queensland | 1962 | 1937–1962 |
| Jack Critchley | Labor | South Australia | 1959 | 1947–1959 |
| Jack Devlin | Labor | Victoria | 1959 | 1946–1957 |
| Tom Drake-Brockman | Country | Western Australia | 1958 | 1958, 1959–1978 |
| James Fraser | Labor | Western Australia | 1959 | 1938–1959 |
| John Gorton | Liberal | Victoria | 1959 | 1950–1968 |
| Donald Grant | Labor | New South Wales | 1959 | 1944–1959 |
| Clive Hannaford | Liberal | South Australia | 1962 | 1950–1967 |
| George Hannan | Liberal | Victoria | 1958 | 1956–1965, 1970–1974 |
| John Harris | Labor | Western Australia | 1959 | 1947–1951, 1953–1959 |
| Bert Hendrickson | Labor | Victoria | 1959 | 1947–1971 |
| Denham Henty | Liberal | Tasmania | 1962 | 1950–1968 |
| Roy Kendall | Liberal | Queensland | 1959 | 1950–1965 |
| Pat Kennelly | Labor | Victoria | 1959 | 1953–1971 |
| Keith Laught | Liberal | South Australia | 1959 | 1951–1969 |
| Ted Maher | Country | Queensland | 1959 | 1950–1965 |
| John Marriott | Liberal | Tasmania | 1959 | 1953–1975 |
| Ted Mattner | Liberal | South Australia | 1962 | 1944–1946, 1950–1968 |
| John McCallum | Liberal | New South Wales | 1962 | 1950–1962 |
| Colin McKellar | Country | New South Wales | 1962 | 1958–1970 |
| Nick McKenna | Labor | Tasmania | 1962 | 1944–1968 |
| Frank McManus | Labor (A-C)/Democratic Labor | Victoria | 1962 | 1956–1962, 1965–1974 |
| Alister McMullin | Liberal | New South Wales | 1959 | 1951–1971 |
| Theo Nicholls | Labor | South Australia | 1962 | 1944–1968 |
| Justin O'Byrne | Labor | Tasmania | 1959 | 1947–1981 |
| Sid O'Flaherty | Labor | South Australia | 1962 | 1944–1962 |
| James Ormonde | Labor | New South Wales | 1958 | 1958, 1959–1970 |
| Neil O'Sullivan | Liberal | Queensland | 1962 | 1947–1962 |
| Shane Paltridge | Liberal | Western Australia | 1962 | 1951–1966 |
| Rex Pearson | Liberal | South Australia | 1959 | 1951–1961 |
| Bob Poke | Labor | Tasmania | 1962 | 1956–1974 |
| Dame Annabelle Rankin | Liberal | Queensland | 1962 | 1947–1971 |
| Albert Reid | Country | New South Wales | 1962 | 1950–1962 |
| Agnes Robertson | Country | Western Australia | 1962 | 1950–1962 |
| John Ryan | Labor | South Australia | 1959 | 1950–1959 |
| Charles Sandford | Labor | Victoria | 1958, 1962 | 1947–1956, 1957–1966 |
| Malcolm Scott | Liberal | Western Australia | 1959 | 1950–1971 |
| Harrie Seward | Country | Western Australia | 1959 | 1951–1958 |
| Jim Sheehan | Labor | Victoria | 1962 | 1938–1940, 1944–1962 |
| John Spicer | Liberal | Victoria | 1962 | 1940–1944, 1950–1956 |
| Bill Spooner | Liberal | New South Wales | 1962 | 1950–1965 |
| Dame Dorothy Tangney | Labor | Western Australia | 1962 | 1943–1968 |
| Jim Toohey | Labor | South Australia | 1959 | 1953–1971 |
| Seddon Vincent | Liberal | Western Australia | 1962 | 1950–1964 |
| Harrie Wade | Country | Victoria | 1962 | 1956–1964 |
| Robert Wardlaw | Liberal | Tasmania | 1962 | 1953–1962 |
| Dame Ivy Wedgwood | Liberal | Victoria | 1959 | 1950–1971 |
| Don Willesee | Labor | Western Australia | 1962 | 1950–1975 |
| Ian Wood | Liberal | Queensland | 1959 | 1950–1978 |
| Robert Wordsworth | Liberal | Tasmania | 1959 | 1950–1959 |
| Reg Wright | Liberal | Tasmania | 1962 | 1950–1978 |